Playing with fire: China announces ‘firm’ response after Tsai-McCarthy meeting
Beijing said the US-Taiwan meeting was a “grave violation of one-China policy.”
China has slammed Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen’s meeting with US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, promising a “firm” response. China will respond to “the grave error of the US-Taiwan collusion” with “effective and decisive measures” to protect national sovereignty and territorial integrity, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Thursday, according to the state news agency Xinhua.
The meeting in the US state of California was a “grave violation of the one-China policy,” the State Department said. Part of the so-called One China policy is to recognize Beijing as the sole representative of China. Since the split between mainland China and Taiwan in 1949, Beijing has viewed the island as a breakaway territory that it wants to reunite with the mainland – if necessary using military force.
“A red line” that must not be crossed
The Taiwan issue is “a red line that must not be crossed in China-US relations,” the State Department added.
The Chinese Defense Ministry also condemned the meeting. “We firmly oppose any form of official interaction between the United States and Taiwan, as well as any visit to the United States by a senior Taiwan official (…),” the ministry said, according to Xinhua. In the run-up to Tsai’s visit, China had warned the United States against “playing with fire.” A “serious confrontation” is imminent.
Tsai was received in the United States on Wednesday by a large group of MPs from McCarthy’s Republican Party and President Joe Biden’s Democratic Party. The Taiwan President called the reception proof that Taiwan has friends in the international community and “that we are not isolated and we are not alone.”
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